Monday, April 17, 2017

Spring Fever

It’s that time of year…Spring is in
the air, sports games have started, and I-step has finally arrived!The pretty weather makes it more and more
difficult tohold the attention of our
sweet, squirmy kiddos.Now is the time
of year that extra recesses would definitely be an advantage.

The Joys of being a Yaya!

As a Yaya, I have had my first experience with sports.I’ve done it as a mom.I’ve done it as a stepmom.I’ve done it as a teacher.But now, I get to be a sports fan as a
Yaya!There is nothing like it.We weren’t sure if our little guy would play,
but he did and was a hit!He is silly
down to his core.He kept us all
laughing and I loved watching his sweetness.He didn’t want to be aggressive with the other littles.I laughed and my heart was completely
full.When it was his turn to sit out,
he was talking freely with the other kids and completely enjoying himself.I’m so thankful for the joy he has brought to
our lives! As a mom you always worry about how other people will see your child. You don't want your child judged, or better yet, you don't want to be judged as a mom. All of that is gone as a grandparent and the simple pure joy of watching a child grow and develop is so blissful!

Preparing for the Test

With Istep this week, we have spent the last couple of weeks
reviewing, in math in particular.If you
are a teacher or work in a classroom, you know what this weather does to
students and what review does to them as well.They begin to check out!We’ve
tried to switch things up a bit making games out of task cards.One thing that worked really well was using
the cute task cards Mrs. Patterson made.We used the decimal task cards as a scoot game.The students loved moving around the room to
music to solve the problems.It held
their interest the entire time.

We also used the adorable multiplication task cards by printing
them and stapling pages together for students to work in groups solving the
problems and helping one another when someone became stuck on a problem or a
part of a problem.Our colored printer
was out of ink, so we printed them in black and white and the kids didn’t even
notice.They were still really appealing
with ready to use problems perfect for this time of year.

I hope that testing is going well in your part of the world.We are testing for two weeks and are working
hard to keep things interesting and to encourage our students to do their very
best to “show what they know.”Let us
know if you have any special tips to make things fun and engaging for students.
We’d love to hear from you!